◎Is This Even Possible◎
Le Qing felt as though she had been plunged into an icy abyss.
Those simple words struck her ears, yet they were so difficult to comprehend. Her mind spun sluggishly, leaving her unable to immediately find the right response.
The person before her noticed her strange reaction and laughed. "What’s with that look? As if I’m accusing you of something. Don’t forget, I helped you pool the money for your plastic surgery. And then you vanished without a word for years—what did you take me for?"
Plastic surgery.
Le Qing silently repeated the term in her mind before steadying her voice. "After I went back, I changed my phone and my domestic SIM card. I lost contact with a lot of people."
"Really?" The woman eyed her skeptically. "I thought you just wanted to cut me off after getting your money."
Le Qing didn’t answer. Instead, she unlocked her phone and handed it over. "Put in your number. My hand is injured."
The woman, sensing nothing amiss, took the phone and quickly entered her contact details—her name was Nora.
Annie, worried that Le Qing hadn’t returned, asked a staff member for directions to the restroom and slowly made her way over. "Le Qing."
Hearing the voice, Nora glanced over, and her eyes brightened when she saw who it was. She lowered her voice. "So you really did get into high circles. I’ve seen her online—her family is the only Chinese-origin name on the UK’s rich list."
Le Qing had never bothered to learn about the backgrounds of Annie and the others. To her, making friends or forming bonds was purely a personal matter.
But hearing Nora say this stirred an uncomfortable feeling in her chest.
She took her phone back and calmly met Nora’s gaze. "Let’s meet up sometime. I want to talk to you properly."
"Of course, darling." Nora misunderstood, patting her shoulder reassuringly. "Don’t worry, I won’t let her know about your past. I’ll get going now."
Nora slipped out through another door, while Le Qing braced herself against the sink, steadying her breathing before turning to Annie with a composed voice. "I’m fine. I’ll be done soon."
For the rest of the day, she poured every ounce of willpower into focusing solely on finishing Annie’s gift.
"Don’t tell me," Annie said eagerly, reaching out to touch it before Le Qing could explain. "I want to figure it out myself."
The designs were all drawn by Le Qing’s own hand. She had no formal art training, so the shapes were only barely recognizable.
Annie traced the lines, then suddenly smiled. "It’s a cloud. Why did you give me a cloud?"
"Not a cloud," Le Qing corrected softly. "It’s the sky."
She looked into Annie’s eyes, her voice warm. "I hope you’ll always stay as you are now—with a heart that nothing can cage, soaring higher and farther. This is the sky I’m giving you."
Annie raised a brow. "Say it in Chinese for me."
"You don’t understand Chinese, do you?"
"But I want to hear it."
Though puzzled, Le Qing repeated her words in Chinese. Compared to the concise phrasing in English, Chinese often carried a gentler, more poetic resonance.
"I knew I’d love it," Annie said, lifting the kite. "So I’ll go back there—just like you."
Normally, those words would have filled Le Qing with joy. But now, she felt no happiness at all—only dread.
Because she didn’t know if, once the truth came out, she could still hold onto this life, these dreams she had never dared to wish for before.
"Annie, can I ask you something?" she murmured.
"From now on, don’t ask for permission. Just say it," Annie replied, turning toward her. "I don’t like it when you tiptoe around me."
She preferred the bold, unfiltered version of Le Qing from her imagination.
"Lvy said you only paid attention to me after hearing my name that day," Le Qing said carefully, keeping her tone neutral. "Was it really just because of the name?"
"No," Annie answered after a pause. "It was a feeling."
"What kind of feeling?"
"There must be countless Annies in the UK, and countless Le Qings in Chinese," Annie said, reaching out to trace her shoulder before lightly ruffling her hair. "But only you gave me that feeling. And meeting you only confirmed it more."
Le Qing’s heart pounded, her eyes growing warm.
She was terrified that everything she had gained was stolen through someone else’s identity. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to let go.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Annie caught the faint tremor in her voice. "Did something happen?"
"It’s nothing. I’m just… moved."
"Le Qing." Annie set the kite aside, her usually playful expression turning serious. "I’m not some impulsive child. And no one could make me leave the place I grew up in and return to China on a whim. You’re important to me—so important that..."
She frowned, struggling to articulate it. "It might sound ridiculous, and I have no logical explanation, but if it came down to it, I’d give up everything for you. So you can try trusting me."
Le Qing stared at her, stunned.
Who said things like that to someone they’d only met twice?
Or was Annie simply raised to express herself so boldly, without restraint?
"We have a connection," Annie said, picking up the kite again. "This gift—it surprised me, but at the same time, it didn’t. I love it. It feels like a promise between us."
Her words were disjointed, yet she couldn’t explain it any clearer.
"I know," Le Qing said softly, because she felt it too. When she’d thought of the gift, she’d somehow known Annie would love it.
"Then that’s enough," Annie said, satisfied. "If something’s wrong, tell me. Trust me like a little sister trusts her big sister."
Le Qing hesitated before finally nodding. "Okay."
She trusted her instincts.
At this point, Le Qing had no one else to believe in—except herself.
She could only follow the uncertain whispers of her intuition to find her way forward.
After leaving the craft store and having dinner at a nearby restaurant, Le Qing declined Annie’s invitation to go home together. Instead, she said, "Annie, I need your help with something."
"Finally asking me for a favor?" Annie chuckled. "Go on."
"I need to meet someone, but I’m not sure if their intentions are good. Can I borrow a few of your bodyguards?"
Annie’s family prioritized her safety, ensuring a car followed at a discreet distance whenever she went out.
“Is this why you’ve been acting so strange today?” Annie tilted her chin slightly. “Not just the security—I’m coming with you.”
“You can’t show yourself,” Le Qing countered quickly. “If you do, I might not get the answers I need.”
Annie was adaptable. “Fine, I’ll stay out of sight and watch from behind.”
“If you’re unsure whether the other person is safe, how could I possibly let you go alone? Besides, with security by my side, I’m safer than you. Who is this person? I can pick a location for you.”
Le Qing hesitated.
But Annie suddenly flicked her forehead. “Did you forget what I told you earlier? Even if I can’t see, I know London better than you.”
That was true.
Le Qing could choose a location that worked in her favor, keeping the upper hand in the conversation.
So she described the person she’d met to Annie.
“That makes it even simpler. Just meet them at the address I give you. What time?”
It was too late today, and Annie needed to rest, so Le Qing decided to postpone until tomorrow.
As they had arrived, Le Qing held Annie’s hand as they walked out of the quiet, narrow street, now even more serene under the night sky.
Near the street’s end, the roar of motorcycles suddenly echoed from behind, mingled with distant shouts.
Le Qing’s instincts kicked in. With her quick reflexes, she immediately pulled Annie behind her, shielding her. But the abrupt movement sent the kite Annie had been holding in her other hand flying into the air.
Just then, several motorcycles sped past them. The bodyguards at the street corner rushed over, prompting the riders to swerve sharply, their target clear—Annie’s bag.
They were snatchers on bikes.
“Let me borrow this.” Le Qing extended the unused white cane Annie had been holding and swung it hard at the first rider’s hand as he reached out.
The man recoiled in pain, dropping the knife he’d been holding. But his bike veered out of control, sending him crashing to the ground while the motorcycle skidded away. Without hesitation, Le Qing crouched, hoisted Annie onto her back, and moved toward the bodyguards.
Seeing their targets had backup, the snatchers abandoned their attempt.
The bodyguards prioritized their employer, swiftly surrounding Annie. Frowning, Annie ordered, “Get my kite back.”
The handmade gift, now slashed by the thief’s knife, lay in pieces. The bodyguards scrambled to retrieve it.
Annie reached out beside her, grasping empty air. Her face paled. “Le Qing?”
“I’m here.” Le Qing was about to step closer when she spotted a fragment of the kite’s fabric in the corner, painted with clouds—likely torn off and overlooked by the bodyguards.
It could still be mended.
As she bent to pick it up, a blinding light flashed behind her, accompanied by the familiar roar of engines.
One of the snatchers’ accomplices, hidden in an alley, had waited to rescue his fallen comrade.
The bike hurtled toward her. Le Qing’s pupils constricted at the glint of the knife in the rider’s hand.
Her body reacted before her mind could. Clutching the kite fabric and the cane, she sidestepped—only for a strong hand to yank her back, half her body colliding with the person behind her.
She tightened her grip on the cane, ready to strike, when a familiar voice murmured by her ear, “It’s me.”
Jiang Suizhi?!
The rider plowed through the bodyguards, heading straight for his fallen comrade.
Before Le Qing could process it, the hold on her loosened. She barely caught a glimpse of Jiang Suizhi’s figure as he moved—hauling the overturned bike upright, swinging a leg over it, and igniting the engine with the key still in place. He charged straight at the two men now mounting their bike.
Le Qing’s heart stopped. “Jiang Suizhi!”
A deafening crash followed as Jiang Suizhi rammed them into a wall, forcing them to a halt.
Even the bodyguards were stunned by his audacity.
Without a glance, Jiang Suizhi dismounted, stepping on one man’s hand until he dropped the knife with a howl.
Picking it up, Jiang Suizhi snapped, “What are you waiting for?”
Though the command was for his own men, Annie’s bodyguards sprang into action, subduing the duo while others scouted for more accomplices.
Le Qing hurried forward, only for Jiang Suizhi to halt her with a sharp, “Stay back.”
“You—”
He turned, tossing the knife to one of his men before meeting her gaze. “I’ll come to you.”
Emerging from the shadows, his face gradually illuminated by the light, he stepped toward her.
Le Qing scanned him head to toe—relieved to find no injuries.
She exhaled. “That was reckless. You could’ve been killed.”
Jiang Suizhi smirked but didn’t stop advancing.
His men, held at bay by Annie’s security, couldn’t get close. Yet in a crisis, those bodyguards’ priority hadn’t been Le Qing.
She could face danger calmly—except when it involved those she cared about. Her first instinct was always to protect others, to cherish what they gave her or what she gave them.
Jiang Suizhi didn’t know how he’d ended up behind her. Even as he pulled her to safety, he felt the sting of potential loss.
He couldn’t risk leaving any opening for harm. Even if the snatchers’ goal was escape, fear could drive them to lash out at anyone.
The only solution was to eliminate the threat entirely.
Jiang Suizhi never gave enemies a chance to retaliate.
Especially when they’d nearly hurt Le Qing in front of him.
Step by step, he closed the distance to the woman standing in the light. From that unexpected moment of attraction to now, from his session with the therapist to this sleepless, restless period of avoidance—he’d thought of many things.
Of Jiang Yan. Of the two children. Of Le Qing’s feelings. Of how she might react.
But never once had he considered staying away.
He’d only been searching for an excuse—a way to walk into her life openly, without pretense.
But before he could find an excuse, the moment he saw her in danger with barely anyone paying attention to her, all those thoughts he’d been mulling over seemed like utter bullshit. Every time, she had to protect herself, make excuses for herself, even when making new friends—she was so cautious. Why should she have to endure that?
He had always been ruthless in achieving his goals, unscrupulous and cruel—even his own father had called him cold and heartless.
So what? To hell with all of it.
This person was his now.
Even if she still liked Jiang Yan, he had already spent years imitating Jiang Yan. What was stopping him from continuing?
Jiang Suizhi couldn’t stop smiling as he stepped in front of her, his dark gaze behind his glasses sweeping over her inch by inch. His voice was soft: "Someone should stand by your side, shouldn’t they?"
How could he still be smiling at a time like this? Le Qing asked, "Are you okay?"
He had just hugged her—such an unexpected move—and she was worried he might have an episode.
"Not really." Jiang Suizhi flexed his fingers slightly, lowering his eyes to hide their intensity, his lips curving into a gentle smile. "I didn’t take my medicine before coming. It’s unbearable."
Le Qing didn’t suspect anything. "What should we do? What medicine do you need? Can we get it now?"
"No need." Jiang Suizhi took another step forward, his half-lidded eyes glinting faintly. "Just hug me for a moment. Would that be alright?"
Le Qing hesitated.
But considering Jiang Suizhi had ended up like this because he’d saved her, she couldn’t overthink it now. Tentatively, she asked, "How?"
Like holding a child?
Before she could finish speaking, the man suddenly leaned in and pulled her into his arms.
One hand rested on her shoulder, the other settled against her back—not too tight, but impossible to ignore.
Le Qing could even hear his breathing grow heavier.
It was that bad?
A few seconds later, Annie’s urgent voice rang out: "Le Qing, where are you?"
Still in Jiang Suizhi’s embrace, Le Qing had to turn her head slightly. "Here."
"Who’s with you?" Annie asked.
"My… friend." Le Qing patted Jiang Suizhi’s hand and whispered, "Better now?"
"Why care about her?" Jiang Suizhi scoffed lightly. "She’s much safer than you are."
That wasn’t the point!
Only then did Le Qing realize that the area was now surrounded by bodyguards—both hers and Jiang Suizhi’s—after the earlier incident. Though their expressions were professional, their eyes were fixed intently on them.
And then there was Secretary Chen, lips pressed tightly together, clearly holding back words he didn’t dare say.
And Annie, who couldn’t see any of this—somehow, that made Le Qing feel even more like she was hiding something.
"Your friend?" Annie asked as she approached cautiously. "Why isn’t he coming over?"
Without her cane, Le Qing had to awkwardly pull her hand free and pass the cane to Annie. "He’s… dealing with something. I’ll talk to him for a bit and then come over."
Her ears burned as she spoke—this was too strange!
But Jiang Suizhi seemed to notice her discomfort and didn’t push further.
After suppressing the tremors from his earlier emotional turmoil, he finally released her, his tone returning to its usual calm—even carrying a gentleness that Le Qing found unsettling. "I’ll take you home."
Annie had been frightened today, and Le Qing wanted her to rest early, so she didn’t object. Besides, for some private reason, she didn’t want Annie interacting with people from her past.
She walked over to Annie. "I’ll go back with my friend. You should rest—we’ll see each other tomorrow."
Tomorrow, they’d meet Nora together.
Annie frowned slightly in the direction of the other presence.
Though she couldn’t see, she could tell it was a man’s voice—and a powerful one at that, given the number of people he’d brought.
Earlier, the bodyguards had said he was the one who’d ridden into the attacker.
For some reason, she felt this man was dangerous too.
"Is your friend trustworthy?" she asked.
"...Yeah." Le Qing lowered her voice. "He’s the uncle of those two children back home."
So that was it.
But Annie still felt displeased. Shouldn’t she be the one to take Le Qing home after a crisis? What was this man doing butting in?
After a pause, Le Qing added, "Don’t let him know about tomorrow’s meeting with Nora. Just between us."
Hearing that, Annie instantly felt better.
So Le Qing wasn’t that close with this "friend" after all.
"Alright," Annie nodded.
The two groups parted ways, boarding separate cars.
The moment the car started moving, Annie’s expression darkened. She tapped her cane lightly against her palm and called out coolly to the head bodyguard in the passenger seat.
"I’m here, Miss."
Annie’s voice was icy. "You disappointed me today."
The head bodyguard froze.
Disappointed? He hadn’t let a single scratch touch her!
"From now on, your duty isn’t just to protect me," Annie said flatly. "But Le Qing as well."
"But—"
"No buts." Annie cut him off. "In critical moments, protecting her is your top priority. Understood?"
"Miss, if we do that, we’ll be fired."
Annie smiled faintly. "If you don’t, you’ll be fired right now."
"..."
Meanwhile, Le Qing and Jiang Suizhi sat in the backseat.
Jiang Suizhi had returned to normal, while Le Qing focused on repairing the kite she’d brought over, planning to fix it before giving it back to Annie.
Suddenly, Jiang Suizhi spoke. "Is this important too?"
"Hm?" Le Qing didn’t catch it.
"That broken bracelet, this torn kite." His tone was casual, as if making small talk. "Are they all that important?"
Le Qing answered without hesitation. "Yes."
"And what about mine?"
Distracted again, Le Qing finally looked up. "What about yours?"
"The bracelet I gave you." Jiang Suizhi’s gaze dropped to her wrist, his fingers lightly tapping her sleeve. "You never wore it. Doesn’t it matter?"
Le Qing was baffled. Why was he comparing these things?
"Of course it matters. I stored it away safely."
Along with all the other gifts.
Jiang Suizhi smiled. "I thought you didn’t like it."
"I like everything you all give me," Le Qing said. "Whether I wear it or not doesn’t change that."
Jiang Suizhi: "Then if the bracelet I gave you broke, would you be just as upset?"
What a strange question.
Still, Le Qing answered seriously. "Yes. Because you’re all my friends."
"Friends..."
Once, Jiang Suizhi had been furious over that word for a long time. And now, here he was, angry over it again.
His brow furrowed slightly at the thought.
Maybe back then, what had angered him wasn’t being relegated to just a friend—but the realization that he wasn’t as important to her as he wanted to be.
All he wanted was a special place in her heart.
"Aren’t you busy with company matters? How do you have time to come here?" Le Qing suddenly remembered something important.
Jiang Suizhi replied calmly, "Secretary Chen said the late-night snacks here are good."
"?"
Coming to London for late-night snacks?
Do you even remember you’re the kind of person who supervises children’s morning check-ins during breakfast?
"Then why did you show up there?"
"I arranged some bodyguards around you before I left," Jiang Suizhi seized the moment to make his point. "But because of that person next to you, my people couldn’t get too close. Though from what happened today, her bodyguards aren’t reliable either."
Le Qing instinctively defended Annie: "Those are her bodyguards—it’s normal for them to protect her."
"Then who protects you?" Jiang Suizhi’s tone turned cool. "You knew she had bodyguards, so why did you step in to shield her? If I hadn’t come, what would you have done? I—"
His words trailed off as he noticed the dazed look on her face.
His gaze softened again. "I was just worried about you."
Le Qing wasn’t ungrateful, but she found Jiang Suizhi a bit strange.
The old Jiang Suizhi had always carried an air of defiance, even behind glasses. But now, his gentleness felt unsettling. She couldn’t help but ask, "You... seem different. Is work not going well?"
In her eyes, Jiang Suizhi only put on this demeanor when work demanded it. But this wasn’t work hours.
At least in front of her, he had never been like this. From their first meeting, he had always been himself.
Jiang Suizhi smirked. "Is that a bad thing?"
"Not exactly. It just doesn’t suit you," Le Qing answered earnestly.
Doesn’t suit him...
The smile on Jiang Suizhi’s lips faded slightly.
"Why doesn’t it suit me?" he asked leisurely. "Because even like this, I’m still not like Jiang Yan?"
Jiang Yan?
Was he imitating his older brother?
Why would he imitate his brother?
Thinking he might harbor some guilt or obsession toward his brother, Le Qing gently advised, "Being yourself is good too. You don’t have to be the same."
"Is that so?" A hint of self-mockery laced his voice. "But Jiang Suizhi can only ever be your friend."
Le Qing didn’t understand, but in the next moment, something flashed through her mind, and her words took a turn.
"Jiang Suizhi," she called.
"Hm?"
"Do you remember when we were at the meadow, and you owed me a favor?"
"I remember."
Le Qing nodded. "Good that you remember."
"What about it?"
"Nothing." She averted her gaze again, looking down at her wrist. For the first time, she felt relieved she hadn’t worn the bracelet Jiang Suizhi had given her.
She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to return it someday.
Was Jiang Suizhi friends with her because of Jiang Yan? Because she was connected to his brother’s child, and she was just benefiting from that relationship?
"If I weren’t Le Qing, if I had no ties to the children..."
Jiang Suizhi frowned slightly. "What?"
"No brother, no children, no obligations between us..." Le Qing murmured. "Would you still have been friends with me?"
"No obligations?" Jiang Suizhi repeated softly.
After a few seconds of silence, he chuckled meaningfully. "And here I thought such a thing was too good to be true."
